They were not gentle in the slightest with Draco Stirling as they dragged him and his surviving four soldiers back to the Dauntless. It would honestly not surprise me if the only thing preventing the bunch of traitors from being 'accidentally' dumped into every door frame was down to sheer professionalism.

None of them had been in a good way, and there was one that was almost certainly going to be dead by the time we got back to Atlas proper. And if I am honest, I cannot bring myself to care about their well deserved fate that much. People that try to spark a race war simply for the sake of feeling big aren't worth wasting care on.

Thankfully, there were survivors of the Audumla's crew. In fact, the majority of them had survived, albeit not without serious injuries. One of the crew, a swan Faunus that had insisted on the medical personnel seeing to his colleagues first, had lost one of his wings. Another had lost an eye and at least four others had sustained severe burns. But they were alive.

They were under guard, although somewhat understandably it was the Menagerian contingent that took up that duty. Even with the assurances of General Hawthorn that they'd be safe, not even Ghira had faith in that promise. The traitors were of course under our own guard, with Team NYYT taking the lead. It was slightly unnerving that the team that I had known as students and trusted with Cinder on occasion was under explicit orders to 'put down' any traitor that tried to escape with 'as much prejudice as was necessary', but I supposed that they were specialists now. It was technically part of their duties to kill if need be.

In the meantime, I had opted to find a desk on the bridge and start writing up reports. Taking notes might well be enough during a given mission, but those notes didn't constitute a report in and of themselves. Besides, we had a long journey back to Atlas so I might as well get a headstart on it-

"Archivist Schwartz."

My train of thought came to a halt as I looked up to see the face of Sienna Khan, an expression of utter calm on her face. Whether it was due to being at the high point of her ire or just down to being completely done with everything, I honestly couldn't tell.

"..Representative Khan? Is there something I can do for you?"

"Ghira appears to trust you, or at least trusts you not to bullshit him. I cannot entirely tell which. And your bosses appear to have a similar view of you, given the fact that it is just yourself and Captain Glover from the Archives here. So tell me here and now, what will Stirling's punishment be for this…farce?"

"If I were to guess, it'll probably be a firing squad or the gallows." I shrug. "Although in the interest of honesty, I am in no way an expert on the intricacies of Atlesian Military and Civil Law. Treason isn't exactly an everyday crime, after all."

"It's unlikely to be a firing squad Schwartz." Glover chimed in as he approached. "That's for soldiers. Stirling and his lot have been officially dishonorably discharged. Any of his surviving men will probably be offered to you to do with as you please. Stirling himself will probably be exiled to the White Sea."

"Doesn't sound like much of a punishment." Sienna observed.

"It's mainly down to tradition." Glover shrugged. "Treasonous army Captains and military officers were exiled to the White Sea during the Empty Throne days, and it's still on the books as a valid punishment now. We did it to Warwick Campbell. We did it to Cognus Géle, despite his best efforts. It may seem like a mercy, Representative Khan, but to Atlesian eyes it is the ultimate disgrace. A final humiliation, as though they aren't worth wasting a bullet or a blade on. You get dumped out there, no weapons or warm clothes…only a few day's worth of rations, a thin blanket and a nights worth of firewood.,,,and are simply left for the Sea to claim you."

"Tradition has it that the White Sea is too cold for even the Grimm to exist, and nothing that Atlas has seen on either scouting missions or on our sensors has disproved that.." It was my turn to answer. Admittedly, nothing Atlas had seen had proven the tradition to be true, but was not really relevant. "It might seem convoluted, Representative Khan. But it's just the way things are done with regards to traitors."

Sienna snorted. "It'd be far easier to just shoot him. Safer too, given you can ensure he's actually dead..not at risk of being rescued by loyalists." The unspoken 'because of course he has loyalists' remained thankfully unsaid.

Glover merely inclined his head. "Maybe so, Representative Khan. However, if we just shot the man we would be showing that we are afraid to let him have his day in Court. That we are afraid of what he has to say. Let the man scream and rave and rant, he's damned no matter what..and can be used as a very real example of why such rhetoric, the rhetoric of the lunatics in the Anti-Vytal Front, is not only a relic of the past, but is and was wrong."

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"Plus.." I continued for my boss. "You have the pleasure of knowing that the racist bastard will die cold and alone, hungry and scared and forgotten."

Sienna Khan held my gaze for a few seconds, before firing off one last comment before striding off to her fellow Menagerians. "..He'd better, Archivist."

"She's quite the formidable woman, isn't she?" Glover commented once she was a safe enough distance away. "Ghira Belladonna might have an issue on his hands if she tries to dislodge him as Designated Successor."

"You think she'd fuck things up on Menagerie like that?" I asked.

"I think that's all a problem for another day, Schwartz." Glover answered, before clapping his hands. "Moving on, there is an upside to all this bullshit today."

I raised an eyebrow at Glover's statement. "We averted a second Great War?"

"There is that." My boss conceded. "But Stirling was the one that denied you a commendation for your actions during the Paladin Incident in a bout of his usual breed of pettiness. It's likely you'll actually get it now. If not another one for your quick thinking today."

That, and I'd made Ironwood laugh. That was surely an achievement in and of itself. But the thought of finally getting at least some recognition was…nice. It frankly hadn't bothered me in the slightest that I'd been denied official recognition of my actions that day, but everyone likes to be acknowledged every now and then.

"Unfortunately." Glover continued, swiftly crushing my good time. "There is one issue we've yet to contend with. And it's going to be hell."

I glanced over to him, and could only groan as it dawned on me what he meant. "..Just say it."

"...There's going to be a fuck load of paperwork for all this. Not just reports, but expenses and requisitions, we'll have to replace the Audumla for Menagerie and YAMATO won't make it cheap, then of course there's all the hours of diplomatic meetings that will be almost entirely one sided..."

"So in other words..?"

Glover gave a grim smile. "In other words, I have a feeling we're about to make the local coffee shops very happy…and a lot of caffeine addicted students very unhappy."

….Joy.

_________________

It was already early in the evening by the time the Dauntless arrived back in Atlas and I could actually get away. I made a beeline straight for the Archives. One of my colleagues pinged me a note on my scroll to inform me that Cinder was there.

When I got there, I found a few people still at their desks. The Archives operated a skeleton crew to service the overnight shift, but they had yet to arrive. I headed to my office, and soon found myself face to face with the most important person in my life.

"Hey Cinder."

"Hey Dad!" She replied, a chipper smile on her face.

"Sorry I'm so late." Because what else was there to say? "Work was…busier than I had anticipated."

My sweet and wonderful daughter merely kept smiling. "It's no biggie, Dad. Merc and I just got on with our homework. Ms Aquari let us in and let us know what was going on. You stopped the bad guys, right Dad?"

"Something like that." And now I owe Aquari one. Is she the one that likes Valean Ale? It was at that moment that I noticed that Cinder wasn't alone. Mercury was quiet, hanging back from the both of us. Nothing like the asshole of an assassin he'd grow up to be in..different circumstances. "You've got company, I see."

"Oh!" She scampered over to Mercury, and all but dragged him over to meet me. "This is Merc."

…Nicknames already?

"...It's Mercury actually, Miss Schwartz." A familiar voice from behind me corrected her. James Ironwood approached us, a small smile adorning his face. He walked right up to his adopted son, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "...I trust you both kept out of trouble?"

Mercury gave a nod as an affirmative. "We found a quiet corner and did our homework. Ms Aquari let us use the machine to make ourselves hot chocolate."

"Good to hear." Ironwood's eyes were full of restrained pride as he spoke with his son, before turning his gaze first to Cinder, who merely shot him her usual sunny smile, and then to me.

"...Do remember to get some rest, Schwartz." Ironwood said after a few moments of silence. "I think we'll be very busy in the coming days."

"Likewise sir." I replied with a smile of my own and a salute that bordered on casual, and turned to head off. "Come on Cinder. Let's go. I'm tired and want to just slump on the sofa, so we'll do NoodleHouse for dinner. Sounds good?"

She nodded a few times, before turning around and giving a wave to her new friend. "G'bye Merc! See you tomorrow!"

An oddly inspired look crossed the boy's face for all of a moment, before giving way for a somewhat cheeky smile as he returned the gesture.

"See you tomorrow Cin!".